Express Avenue celebrated World Photgraphy Day by inviting entries for ‘An Ode To Water’ through Instagram that cherish the element of water and draw awareness to its sheer beauty and importance. This was a contest without a prize, at least not in the conventional sense. Every photograph submitted for the contest was a pledge to support and a winning contribution to the cause.
The contest garnered more than 2,000 entries from all over India. 50 photographs from these entries were shortlisted and were prepped to be exhibited at Express Avenue starting from August 16 to culminate on World Photography Day, August 19.
“Speaking on the success of the exhibition, LLA Founder and leading photographer Iqbal Mohamed said, “In the thousands of entries we received, I could see the immense passion of photographers from all over India who have participated so enthusiastically to shoot for a cause. People who have seen the exhibition so far have been excited about how differently, and in such varied ways, water was captured and with so much positivity.”
“Having a show in a place like Express Avenue, was an inspired choice for an exhibition of this kind. Despite the typical distraction of the sound and action in a mall, the people who were drawn to the exhibition said that they had a spiritual experience. A sense of quiet and peace. This reinforced my belief in the power of photography,” he added.
Alongside the exhibition, LLA ran an activity for children at Express Avenue on August 18. An interactive game in which the participants became ‘Water Heroes’ who found new recruits to join their ‘army’ in the cause of saving water. They walked around the mall, convinced people to become ‘Water Soldiers’, and clicked photographs of their new recruits. Over 200 children joined in the activity to build an army of people who were dedicated to the cause of conserving water, giving us immense hope for the future of water.
“As part of our 9 year anniversary celebrations EA is inspired to contribute to an important cause in the time as we stand today and choosing to partner LLA one of the finest academy as an Ode to Water the Elixir of Life on this planet. It was encouraging to witness more than 200+ kids participating in the Water Hero activity and taking a pledge to use water intelligently as the future generation.
We are also glad that our shoppers have significantly contributed towards the cause ‘An Ode to Water’ by encouraging the amazing collections of photographs taken by the wonderful photographers and showcased in our Central Atrium for 4 days.
We feel fortunate that we were able to accomplish our objective to draw the necessary attention of Chennaites and people at large all across the country through the initiative of LLA to organize this exhibition & contest to celebrate World Photography Day on August 19,” says Munish Khanna, CRO, Express Avenue.
From little drops of water to seemingly endless oceans, the pictures were exhibited and made available for sale to the public at Express Avenue in the form of prints, postcards and bookmarks. Proceeds from the sales went to the NGO, Environmentalist Foundation of India (E.F.I), an environmental conservation group based out of Chennai. E.F.I is known for its work in the cleaning and scientific restoration of lakes in India and have made some important strides towards long term conservation of water.
An Ode to Water witnessed a footfall in the 1,000s each day and many expressed interest and intrigue in this unique initiative.
